


pneuma

by rarmaster



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Torna Golden Country Spoilers of a very light sort, god i love mythra, suicidal ideation for a single sentence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 20:29:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16025432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarmaster/pseuds/rarmaster
Summary: It's just a name.





	pneuma

“This is… the whole of our power,” Pyra explains to Rex, as he gapes at Aion. “This is the power we were granted at birth.”

“Rex… are you still sure you want this?” Mythra asks.

Rex blinks, then his eyes drop down to the two of them, and he grins, wide. “Yeah! I’m ready if you are,” he says.

Pyra holds out her hand. Rex takes it. He reaches for Mythra’s, but she yanks it away before he can grab it.

“Mythra…?” Rex asks, cocking his head as he looks at her. “Something wrong?”

Mythra turns her head away, shame bubbling up in her throat. It’s… _stupid_. Being scared is so _stupid_. There’s absolutely no reason that standing in Aion’s shadow should make her skin crawl like this.

“It’s,” she tries, chokes on the words.

Pyra picks up the hand hanging at her side and squeezes it.

“Mythra, it’s okay,” Pyra whispers. “We can do this.”

Mythra shakes her head. “I- I really can’t.”

“Mythra…” Pyra says.

Her voice _sounds_ disappointed, but through the emotional bond she and Pyra share, Mythra knows that Pyra is just sad, and worried. Guilty, even, though _she_ has no right to be.

“Why not?” Rex asks, oblivious as always. “What’s wrong?” His eyes are pinched in concern. He feels some of what they’re feeling, of course. But he doesn’t understand it, the way Pyra does.

Mythra laughs, bitter and sharp. “Oh, nothing,” she says. “I’m just a coward who’s _still_ running away from taking the blame.”

Rex blinks. “I- I don’t understand?”

Mythra squeezes her eyes shut.

It’s so _stupid,_ but if she even _thinks_ of touching the power that’s sleeping inside of her, all she gets back is terror instead. She can still remember, like it was yesterday—Hugo, lifeless, in Addam’s arms. Brighid and Aegaeon’s dormant core crystals. Torna, sinking into the cloud sea, still alight with fire— _her_ fire. How many people, did she kill? History blames her for all of it, and it’s not- it’s not _wrong_.

“Rex, give us a second,” Pyra says. She doesn’t wait for him to say that’s fine before she turns and takes both of Mythra’s hands in hers, pulling Mythra towards her. Mythra yelps a bit in surprise, and Pyra—

There’s _love_ , in Pyra’s eyes, and there’s _faith,_ and Mythra doesn’t know what it’s like to be looked at like that—“ _W- Wait, Mythra,”_ Addam’s voice rings in her ears, Addam’s fear echoes in her heart. _“You can’t!_ ”—but Pyra’s gripping her hands so tightly it’s starting to hurt and Pyra leans in close to her face and:

“We can _do_ this,” Pyra insists. “ _You_ can do this! I know you can!”

Frustration burns in Mythra’s eyes.

“What if I lose control again?” Mythra counters, sharp. “What then, huh!? What If I kill- what if our friends _die_? You want me to sink another Titan? Malos brings out the worst in me, and if I slip—”

“Then let me do it, Mythra.”

Pyra is so sincere. Mythra scoffs.

“You were deliberately made to be weaker than me, Pyra,” she spits. “That wasn’t an _accident_. You can’t even touch Aion’s power without my help! It _has_ to be me, but I- I _can’t_ —”

“Then…”

Pyra hesitates, a thoughtful look on her face. That’s, worrying. Mythra scowls at her.

Pyra nods, certain in her idea. “Let someone else do it,” she says.

“What?”

“Someone that isn’t me,” Pyra explains. “Someone that isn’t you. Create someone, like you created me.”

Mythra’s face twists in anger. “You want me to keep being _coward_!?”

“There’s nothing wrong with being afraid, Mythra,” Pyra argues. Her voice is so gentle it nearly makes Mythra cry. “And I know it’s silly, but… If it gets the job done…”

“It’s _stupid_ ,” Mythra says.

Pyra grips her hands tighter.

“Someone else can take the blame!”

It’s so tempting, but that’s what makes Mythra hate it the most.

“I’m _so_ tired of being coward!!” Mythra shouts. She wants to curl in on herself and die—that’s _all_ she’s wanted, ever since she lost control—but Pyra won’t even let her pull her hands away. Pyra clings to her. Pyra doesn’t let go.

“It _really is_ okay to be afraid, Mythra,” Pyra says. She smiles. “I get it. I’m not really thrilled about using this power, either, but—But we _need_ that power, to stop Malos…”

Mythra turns her head away. Pyra’s right. They have to stop Malos, and without the full of their power, they aren’t a match for him. They definitely aren’t a match for Jin, the way he is now! They _need_ this power, and so…

“You really want a third one of us running around in here?” Mythra asks, eyebrows raised, bitterness still pulling at her throat.

Pyra shakes her head. “She doesn’t have to _be_ anything,” she answers. “Just a name. A name that people can blame, if things go wrong.” Pyra squeezes her hands tighter. At this point, it’s almost reassuring. “And _trust me,_ Mythra. Things _aren’t_ going to go wrong.”

Mythra looks at her sister, how earnest she is, and she relents. She rolls her eyes for show.

“Tch, fine,” she says. “This is _unbelievably_ stupid but. Yeah. Let’s do it.”

Squeezing each other’s hands tightly, they both reach out towards Rex.

**Author's Note:**

> the mythra exprience is just disassociating yourself from your full power so hard you create not one but TWO alternate personas


End file.
